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Innovations

The requirement that computer systems communicate with each other at greatly
increased speeds is becoming one that is taxing researchers worldwide. As a
result of this demand four of the world's major "telecom companies" are
investing some C$20 million (£9 million) to develop new technologies that, they
hope, will enable computers to communicate with each other at what they describe
as "previously unheard of speeds". The Canadian semiconductor company Hyberchip
is to receive this investment to carry out this ambitious project.

The telecom companies: Lucent, Cisco, Nortel and Juniper are to supply the
investment capital and they are combining to assist Hyperchip to produce
switches that will be capable of transferring data at 1,280 trillion bits per
second. Readers will recall that current domestic telephone lines carry data at
28,000 bits per second. The need for such increased speeds is now quite apparent
as the world's industrial and commercial concerns concentrate their
communications systems on e-commerce operations.

2.

Electronic eye

In the UK an innovative "electronic eye" is being used in a number of
applications. The most unusual appears to be its use by the horseback division
of Cleveland's Police Force. The electronic eye is a system called Argus Rego,
which is a tiny camera that can store information onto digital tapes. In the
Cleveland application the Argus Rego becomes a helmet mounted video camera. It
is claimed to be barely visible and has a centrally placed lens and a high
resolution digital tape system. The tapes are capable of recording 90 minutes of
continuous footage. The police believe that it is particularly suitable for use
in football or other crowds and, of course, in large disturbances. The police
force claim it is the first force in the world to fit officers with such a
system. Recordings from the "eye" are, they say, admissible as evidence.